


Sky Warrior

by emjay45151



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: ALL THE HORSES, Deleted Scene, F/M, Fluff, Gen, Hide and Seek, Horses, Kinda fluff I guess cause no one dies?, Lincoln is adorable when panicking over Octavia, Tag, but it gets pretty damn emotional, idk - Freeform, seriously they did the insta-love thing, which pissed me off
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-08
Updated: 2014-11-17
Packaged: 2018-02-24 14:03:35
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,815
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2584016
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/emjay45151/pseuds/emjay45151
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Octavia and Lincoln's first meeting after she helps him escape. Or, what should have happened before they jumped into a pile of furs together.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So as the summary says, I was kinda annoyed that we got like no relationship development in between when Octavia frees Lincoln and that scene in the cave. Obviously they had met before, what with her comment about being a warrior, and I wanted to know what happened. So this was my answer. The first chapter gets kinda heavy, but the second should just be pure fluff about Octavia's first lesson. 
> 
> I did my best with Lincoln cause I can tell that he's more than the silent cave-man type, but we only ever see him talking when it's life or death stuff. 
> 
> Enjoy!

 “Lincoln.” Octavia hisses

 

“ _Lincoln._ You floating bastard, where are you? I swear to the Ark I’ll… I’ll sic Bellamy on you again if you don’t get your ass out here.”

 

Moving slowly through the brush, Octavia tries to slide by the branches as smoothly as possible, knowing that even her best efforts sound like firecrackers among the dark silence. At this rate she’s going to be panther food soon.

 

“Lincoln. Come on. I’m fucking dead meat out here by myself. “ Octavia whispers desperately.

 

She started out in the general direction she remembered his cave being, but between having to avoid the watches and the new landmines, she had quickly gotten turned around. Hundreds of trees in the dark were a far cry from four sterile white walls.

 

All she knows is that she has to find Lincoln fast or Bellamy will kill her if he has to send out another search party. Assuming she doesn’t become a midnight snack for something first.

 

Hopping up on a large rock, Octavia cranes her neck trying to get a glimpse of the moon through the tree cover. She may not have gone to school, but Bell at least taught her rudimentary stuff from his Earth Skills classes. If she can just figure out if she’s east or west of the camp….

 

“Octavia.” The dark whispers.

 

With a yelp, she slips sideways off the rock and falls flat on her ass.

 

“Lincoln. Finally. I totally meant to do that by the way.”

 

“What are you doing?” He growls at her.

 

“Falling off a rock apparently.” She replies sarcastically

 

Emerging from the shadows, Lincoln crouches down to her level, knife at the ready. No longer covered in blood, and with some of his wounds healing after a few days, Octavia gets a hint of what he looks like normally. It’s a good look.

 

“No I mean, what are you doing _here_?”

 

“Oh, trying to make sure that you’re not dead. “

 

“It’s not safe.” Standing up, he holds out his hand out and hauls her up off the dirt after him.

 

Brushing pine needles off her leggings Octavia responds.

 

“I’m well aware of that thanks. It’s one of the reasons I was trying to find you.”

 

Putting a finger to his lips, he jerks his head to side indicating for her to follow. Turning on his heel, Lincoln heads off into the dark leaving Octavia scampering to keep up. Between his skills and the bad lighting she quickly gives up all attempts at stealth in order to simply keep his silhouette in sight. Him having to come get her again would be seriously embarrassing.

 

Bellamy may think that she can’t do anything by herself, but Ark damn it, she’s going to keep up with one freaking Grounder if it kills her. Which it might. 

 

 _Crack._  

 

With a particularly misplaced step, Octavia manages to step on the loudest branch in their vicinity. Woops.

 

Lincoln stops and turns around to look at her with a blank stare. At least she thinks it is. She can’t actually see much of him.

 

“Sorry.” She breathes.  “I’m trying here, but you’re floating fast. “

 

Quickly taking two steps back towards her, Lincoln put his arm around her back, reaches behind her knees and in one fluid movement pivots her up into his arms.

 

Well. Okay. That works too.

 

They move seamlessly through the trees, faster than they were before, even with her added weight.

 

After a few minutes they break into a clearing, free of tree cover. Lincoln starts jogging, but Octavia is startled by the sudden addition of light and looks up.

 

“ _Stars.”_ She breathes in awed wonder.

 

“Lincoln, stop. I want to look more.“

 

“No. There’s no cover. “ He grumbles at her.

 

“Please Lincoln, I’ve never seen them like this before. “ She pleads.

 

That manages to get his attention and he slows a bit.

 

“What?”  He looks down at her oddly.

 

“I’ve never seen stars before. The camp is in the middle of the woods and before… well. Never seen ‘em. _Please?”_

Debating internally, he glances at the woods around the clearing.

 

“Two minutes. On the edge of the clearing. That’s it.”

 

“Thank you.” She says and pulls herself up to kiss him on the cheek. 

 

“Now let me down. I wanna stand. “ She pushes at his chest about as effectively as a baby and starts wriggling.

 

“No.” He looks ahead with a slight grin on his face.

 

“Seriously? Who are you, Bellamy? I won’t go far. “

 

That gets a reaction.

 

“Fine. “

 

Not once changing his pace after that, they reach the edge of the clearing in a few more strides. Stopping by a tall tree, he lowers her to the ground just as gently as before, his expression at odds with his movements.

 

Totally absorbed, Octavia never took her eyes off the sky and unconsciously takes two steps away from the tree trunk.

 

“Octavia don’t go any farther.”

 

 

“Octavia?”

 

Deciding that she probably wouldn’t move till sunrise unless disturbed, Lincoln fades back into the woods with a specific idea in mind.

 

Correct in his assumption Octavia never even notices that he left. Spinning slowly in a circle, all Octavia can do is gape. This is what all the people on the Ark are missing? This is what she missed while stuck in a tiny room for fifteen years? It’s so _big._

 

“Here.”

 

Startled out of her trance by a touch to her shoulder, she turns her head to see Lincoln holding a white flower by her face.

 

“Is that a flower?” She breathes at him.

 

“You’ve never seen a flower?” He questions, a crease in his brow.

 

“No. It’s gorgeous.” Octavia reaches up to touch it gingerly, almost afraid to hurt it.

 

“This type is called a Honeysuckle.”

 

Tucking it behind her ear, Lincoln scoops her back up.

 

“Two minutes are up.”

 

Distracted by two wonders in such a short space of time, Octavia doesn’t even protest, a loopy grin on her face.

 

Lincoln breaks back into his steady stride, a much smaller version of Octavia’s grin mirrored on his face.

 

They stay like this in silence for the next mile or so, with Octavia resting the side of her head without the flower against his chest.

 

When Lincoln slows to a walk she looks up.

 

“What is it?”

 

“We’re here.” He sets her down again and pulls a camouflaged wood frame off a familiar looking hole in the ground.

 

“Don’t go anywhere.” Sitting down on the edge of the hole, he swings his legs in and pushes off in a jump.

 

Disappearing from sight, Octavia hears him rummaging around, followed by a hiss and then the soft orange glow of fire reaches her.

 

Reappearing in the opening, Lincoln motions at her.

 

“Sit down the same way I did and I’ll brace you for the jump. I don’t want to you breaking an ankle just cause you’re shorter than me. But make sure you leave the cover next to the entrance.”

 

“Kay.” It only takes a few moments for Octavia to position herself correctly.

 

“Good to go.”

 

With unspoken coordination, Octavia pushes herself off the edge as Lincoln’s hands come up to bracket her hips, bearing some of the force from her jump.

 

His hold combined with her momentum propels her straight into his chest.

 

“Oomph. Sorry.”

 

Saying nothing, Lincoln readjusts his left arm around her waist and reaches up to pull the frame back over the cave entrance, eliminating any view of their fire from the outside.

 

That taken care of, Lincoln uses his other arm to crush her against his chest, ignoring the bruising caused by her brother.

 

“Octavia _why_?” He asks in an odd tone.

 

Confused, Octavia tilts her slightly squished head up to look at him.

 

“I told you, I wanted to make sure you weren’t dead.”

 

“No, _why_ do you care if I died or not? It doesn’t make sense. I’m part of the tribe trying to slaughter your people. You should want me dead, not be risking your life to find me.”

 

Pushing back a bit, she grabs his face with her hands and looks squarely into his eyes.

 

“I should be the one asking you that question. You saved me first after all. And look what happened to you because of that. I think I have an idea of why though. ”

 

Smiling, she hops up on her toes and kisses him lightly on the cheek.

 

“That may have been part of it. You know, you saving the girl from certain death and all.”

 

Falling back on her heels she drops her forehead against his chest, and pulls the flower out from behind her ear.

 

“But since you asked first. It’s because of this.” She hold the flower up for him to smell.

 

“A flower?” He looks perplexed. “But I didn’t give you that till just now?”

 

“No, ugh, it’s hard to explain. It’s more about what it represents to me. You remember what I said about how I grew up?”

 

“Yes. Though I didn’t really understand it. ”

 

“Ark this is hard. I just. _Lincoln._ I grew up hidden in a room about the size of this cave. I didn’t expect to live past my eighteenth birthday, let alone get to actually go to earth.”  She explains in a pained voice.

 

Taking a deep breath, she tries to wriggle herself deeper into his hug.

 

“And now, I’m here and you’re here and I can’t lose that. I won’t. I don’t care if it’s dangerous. I had two years in solitary confinement to come to terms with dying.  What I want is to live.”

 

Staring intently at her, he picks her up one last time and settles her down on a pile of furs in the corner, sitting cross-legged, not breaking eye contact the entire time.

 

“I still don’t see what that has to do with me. You’re a lot more likely to live and live peacefully without me.“ Lincoln questions.

 

“Hah. As if. You saw our camp. We’ll be lucky to survive the next month, let alone winter. That’s part of it. We need what you know. And… _I_ need you. You’re the only person in the world that that seems to see me. Not the first girl on the ground, or the crazy girl who stole resources from others on the Ark. You see ME. “

 

Wiping her eyes, she continues.

 

“And honestly Lincoln? I’m pretty damn sure that you may be the only person in the world who hasn’t wished I were dead at some point. Bellamy basically told me as much the other day. Hell, even my mother tried to kill me a couple times as a kid. You’re the only one who’s ever saved me regardless of what it cost them. And it cost you a hell of a lot. “

 

Reaching across the gap between them, she traces the outlines of the cuts on his face made by her brother.

 

“And you’re still here. You came to find me and brought me here. ” She whispers. “So yes, I’m willing to be here regardless of what it costs me.”

 

Grabbing her hand as she pulls it away, Lincoln lowers it into his lap, and starts tracing the lines on her palm.

 

“Octavia. _Octavia._ ” He whispers emotionally.

 

Turning her hand over he runs his thumb across the faint lines on her wrists caused by hours in handcuffs in Confinement.

 

“You wanted to know what I saw? Why I saved you? I followed you for a while before then and I saw….. I saw such wonder at the world. Like you were tonight with the stars and the flower. I also saw how little you knew. You faced every new sound and plant you saw with such bravery. No one with so much wonder, such little knowledge of the world and such courage should have to die like that. So yes I saved you. And I don’t regret what it cost me.”

 

Using the hand still in his lap, her pulls her closer to him.

 

“But now… I’m afraid of what it might do to me if I lose you. That same lack of knowledge that caused me to save you can also easily get you killed here. “

 

His voice breaking, Lincoln gives in and kisses her lightly.

 

After a few breathless moments, he lifts her fully into his lap and starts to nuzzle her hair in silence while she buries her head in his neck.

 

“So teach me.” She blurts out after a moment.

 

“What?!”

 

“Teach me how to be a warrior like you. “

 

“Octavia….”

 

“I’m serious.  You heard me tonight in the woods. I may as well have been screaming ‘here I am, come get me’ the entire time. I need to know how to move like you do. I can do it, I know I can.” She answers a little petulantly.

 

“There’s the bravery I saw.” He quips.

 

Growing somber he continues.

 

“I’ll teach you to be a warrior. I’ll teach you how to use the stars you love so much to navigate and how to move like a shadow in the woods. I’ll teach you Octavia.” He elaborates softly.

 

Shifting her off his lap, he pulls his legs up to bracket her and hugs her from behind, resting his head on hers.

 

Recovering from the emotional overload of the conversation they just had and the events of the past few days, they stay like this, unmoving, while the fire slowly crackles and dies in the background.

 

Finally, the noise of a breaking log startles Octavia out of a doze.

 

“I should get back to camp before Bellamy notices I’m gone again.”

 

Tightening his arms around her, Lincoln really doesn’t like this idea.

 

“It’s late and there are things in the woods at night you shouldn’t see. I’ll wake you up before dawn and lead you back. Okay?”

 

“Okaaaayyyyy. But you won’t be the one to deal with the wrath of my brother if he does notice. “

 

“I’ve faced it before. Don’t worry. He’s not that scary.” He says with a grin

 

Snorting, Octavia acknowledges his point.

 

“True. He just likes to think he’s the big bad wolf.”

 

She settles back onto his chest and Lincoln runs a hand over her smooth brunette hair.

 

“Sleep. Octavia. Just sleep. I’ll get you back in time, my Sky Warrior.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The fluff that had been promised.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So Chapter 2! Yay!
> 
> A million thanks to opensummer (http://archiveofourown.org/users/opensummer) for beta-ing this beauty.

_3 Days Later…._

 

“Sooooo you’re telling me that teaching me to be a badass warrior grounder is primarily done through tag merged with hide and seek?” Back in their clearing, Octavia questions Lincoln, her pitch rising towards the end of her sentence.

 

“Yes.”

 

“I don’t get it. Shouldn’t we be working with knives and stuff?”

 

If Lincoln were more expressive, Octavia swears that he would be rolling his eyes right about now.

 

Shifting his weight slightly, Lincoln looks her in the eye.

 

“Because you need to be able to notice us and run from us. Your people are easily hunted that way, walking straight by us, oblivious. Learning to actually tell when there’s something dead in front of you is the first thing we all needed to learn and, now, so do you.” Lincoln explains.

 

“Wait, at what age do you all learn this?” Octavia asks, dreading the answer.

 

“About seven summers.”

 

“Lovely. I’m as competent as a small child.”

 

With a cheeky grin that hints at his youth, Lincoln taps her chin with a finger.

 

“Chin up. If you actually manage to find me today, I’ve got a reward for you,” Lincoln chuckles.

 

“And I need more training,” he adds on after a moment.

 

Octavia sticks her tongue out at him.

 

“Very mature.” He glares sternly at her.

 

“Well we have already established that I’m about seven years old right now.” She rebuts.

 

Breaking the glare, the side of his mouth quirks up.

 

“All right, when I leave we go in opposite directions and then whoever finds the other first wins. Whatever works to find me goes.”

 

“Kay.”

 

“Now.” Lincoln turns to leave.

 

“Wait. Question.” Octavia interrupts.

 

Exasperated, Lincoln looks back at her.

 

“What?”

 

“How am I supposed to find you? You have all the skills, and I have nothing.” She pouts at him.

 

“Life’s not fair warrior. And it will almost never be an even match. But you have a point.”

 

Rummaging in his pocket, Lincoln pulls out a shiny piece of metal and attaches it to the front of his jacket.

 

“There, it’s shiny and not native. Have fun with that.”

 

“Fiiiinnneeeee.”

 

“Now.”

 

Turning his head back to the front, he strides away without giving her any more chances to stall.

 

Here goes nothing.

 

********

 

 

With a scream, Octavia is pulled off her branch by the back of her jacket.

 

“Gotcha.”

 

Lifting her under the arms, Lincoln manhandles her over the gap to sit next to him on the neighboring branch.

 

“Aww come on really?” She whines.

 

“Yes really.” He smirks at her.

 

“Ugh. Okay, how?”  

 

“First off that branch was way too low to the ground. It was just within a normal visual search range for someone. Second, you fidget.”

 

“I do not fidget,” she mock gasps, offended.

 

“Do too.”

 

“Do not.” She harrumphs and folds her arms over her chest.

 

“Again.”

 

“Fine.”

 

**Lincoln 1 Octavia 0**

 

*********

 

_Crash._

 

Octavia is minding her own business, sitting in a hole when suddenly she has 200 pounds of flailing warrior and sticks crashing down on top of her.

 

“Octavia!?” Lincoln exclaims, pulling himself together.

 

“Yes. Cause there are so many teenage girls wandering around the forest.” She snarks.

 

Reaching down, her helps her out of the ball she had been curled in, stiff muscles protesting.

 

“You were in a hole?” He asks, torn between perplexed and amused.

 

“Well, going up didn’t work, so I figured try the opposite.”

 

“So you dug a hole, and covered it in… sticks to hide it?” Lincoln is obviously trying not to laugh.

 

Punching him lightly in the shoulder, Octavia glares.

 

“Hey! It worked longer than the last place did. Besides you obviously didn’t see me.“

 

“Except for the part where I almost killed you. And if I had actually been attacking, you would have been a sitting duck with nowhere to go. ”

 

Picking a leaf out of her hair, he frowns.

 

“Remind me to teach you about traps later.” He adds.

 

“Spoilsport.”

 

Brushing dirt off her pants, Octavia sighs.

 

“So does that mean I lost again? And what’s a duck?”

 

**Lincoln 2 Octavia 0**

 

******

 

Bugs. Bugs. Ew. So much ew.

 

 

Octavia is curled up again, this time in the knot of a rotting tree. Lincoln had been right behind her, and it was a split second decision to climb in. One that she was now regretting majorly.

 

Wait, was that a cockroach by her foot? Bellamy had said that the little things were probably one of only animals that could’ve survived all the radiation.

 

Here’s to hoping it didn’t mutate fangs in the intervening years.

 

A swooshing sound outside the tree made Octavia go even stiller. Lincoln was close.

 

Oh Ark, it was moving towards her foot. Silently willing the bug to turn around, Octavia hoped that Lincoln was moving in the opposite direction from her.

 

Stupid bug apparently wasn’t telepathic, and kept crawling towards her foot.

 

When it’s twitchy little feeler antennae touched her foot that was it.

 

Octavia whimpered.

 

“Octavia?” A face appeared in the opening.

 

Oops.

 

**Lincoln 3 Octavia 0**

 

*******

 

“RAAAAHHHHH!!!!”

 

With a battle cry, Octavia launches herself out of the bush she had been hiding in, onto the back of a passing Lincoln.

 

She throws her arms around his neck and grabs on in an impromptu piggy back, but realizes too late that she miscalculated her weight.

 

Overbalanced and trying to react to the threat, Lincoln ends up falling on Octavia, his shoulder connecting directly with her sternum.

 

“Octavia, are you okay?” Lincoln panics, rolling off her and grabbing her head in his hands.

 

Wheezing, she holds up a hand before responding.

 

“Just… perfect…and…alive.” She breathes.

 

“Where did I hit you? Did you break anything?” He skims his hands over her chest in a panic, beyond rattled.

 

“Sternum.” She breathes, still winded.

 

He pulls the collar of her shirt down to get a look at the spot. Placing a palm over the area, he applies pressure lightly.

 

“Does that hurt? Does anything feel broken?” he asks, a dark look on his face.

 

Eyes widening, Octavia reaches up and lightly rings his wrist with her fingers.

 

“I’m fine Lincoln.”

 

Dropping his head to her chest Lincoln exhales. After a moment he breathes deeply and composes himself.

 

“I think it’s time to call it a day and get you that reward I promised.”

 

“Wait what? I thought you said that I got it only if I caught you?” She questions

 

Chagrined he hops to his feet and looks around.

 

“You did. I had no idea you were in that bush. Nice battle cry by the way.”

 

“Shut up.”

 

**Lincoln 3 Octavia 1.**

 

********

 

“Keep ‘em closed,” Lincoln orders.

 

Shuffling forward, Octavia squinches her eyes as hard as she can.

 

“Closed. Promise.”

 

“Allright, two steps forward and hold your hand out, palm up.”

 

Octavia obeys and feels him place something cold in her hand.

 

“Lincoln if that’s a bug I swear….” She threatens

 

“It’s not. Promise. Now don’t freak out.”

 

“Okaayy…”

 

In the silence she senses something large move closer to her with a soft whuff, and then slimy lips touch her hand, grabbing the thing Lincoln put in it.

 

Eyes flying open, Octavia gasps when she realizes what’s happening.

 

“It’s… a horse” she exclaims.

 

Looking at it in wonder, Octavia can only gape. It’s prettier than she expected for something she’d only ever heard described as a beast of burden. Brown, with a shaggy mane and ankle joints that looked way too small to support a creature of it’s size, it was gorgeous even with the second mutated half-head.

 

Frustrated that Octavia wasn’t providing any more treats, the horse whuffs again and nudges her in the chest with his forehead.

 

Giggling Octavia reaches up, but pauses.

 

Looking at Lincoln she asks, “Can I touch it?”

 

“Of course,” he answers softly, moving to stand behind her.

 

Completing her earlier movement, Octavia makes contact with the horses star.

 

It’s so soft,” she moves her hand in small circles over the spot.

 

Resting his head on hers, Lincoln works his hand into her hair.

 

“Yes,” he agrees quietly. “It is.”

 

Confident that Octavia doesn’t have any more treats on her, the horse suddenly pulls her head away and gallops off into the woods.

 

“Oh.” Octavia slowly puts her hand down and leans back into Lincoln.

 

“It left.” She whispers sadly.

 

“Yes, but she knows you know and will come back eventually,” he consoles her.

 

Lost in the moment, they stand there watching the spot they had last seen the horse at.

 

“Just like my little warrior came back to me,” he finishes.

 


End file.
